Funny how things start to change when you start to change your thoughts.

All of a sudden new customers appear from all quarters. It´s like I´m dreaming. “Can you make me a website?” “What about business cards?” “Do you offer personal coaching?” I now clearly see the law of attraction. I don´t think in terms of scarcity. I have everything I need, and if I need more, it will come. If it doesn’t, I don´t really need it. This philosophy is very handy! And it´s easy to include in our everyday life when one understands the perils associated with materialism.

I always lived with scarcity. I never had enough.

Or so I thought. I felt this way all the time, and nothing was good enough. But when I bought something, the pleasure it brought faded away very quickly. So I had to buy more and more things, blinded by the belief that filling my life with material objects was somehow cathartic. In fact, I had a professional guitar and a professional amp but I wasn´t a professional musician at all. I just thought I need this stuff to be a professional. Guess what? I was wrong. What’s more, I discovered that I had been wrong about many things throughout my life. I was a late bloomer, I guess. But it´s better to bloom late than never!

Apps, Ebooks and more

It was the same with apps and ebooks. It´s so easy to buy something very quickly considering that everyone with a smartphone maintains near-instant access to the world’s merchandisers whenever the impulse strikes. And you think, “It´s only 99 cents.” But it adds up. And do I really need 200 or more apps on my phone? Do I really need all this? I don´t think so. Of course, I wouldn´t give away my iPhone since it´s a very handy tool. But in reality, that’s all it is. And therein lies the paradox. A useful tool that implores many to rhetorically ask how man managed to live without them while simultaneously bringing the global marketplace – and unlimited materialism – to one’s fingertips.

Two apps I really need and recommend

iA Writer for iPhone and Mac.(I use this for writing articles for wordpress, for my variable costs list, and lots of other pages. It´s lightweight and comes without knick-knacks so I can concentrate on what´s really important. I also backup everything using dropbox and iA Writer, which is also very convenient.)

Wunderlist for iPhone and Mac. (It´s a very handy list manager tool for my ideas and lots more)

The media, family, friends and neighbors play a role in contributing to the consumption mindset, but the biggest contributor to my consumption was me.

Nowadays I think before I buy something.

I read an article about “consumption” on zenhabits, which by the way is one of my favorite blogs, and where Leo Babauta wrote about a “30-day list.” I took his idea and included it in my daily routines. It’s such a simple method, but it never occurred to me. So every time I think I need something, I include it on my 30-day list. If I still think I need that item after 30 days, I buy it. But I don´t buy it directly. I first look on ebay and other platforms in search of used items. Thanks for that, Leo!

Variable costs

I also have a “variable costs” list. It might seem annoying but every single time I buy something, I put it on the list immediately. It has become a rule for me so I think twice before I buy something! This list is very helpful too. At the end of every month I see exactly how much I did spend on coffee, ebooks, music, tv shows and so on. This gives me the transparency I need to estimate future expenses.

Give away stuff you don´t need

As I recently moved to another city, I gave away a lot of stuff I didn´t need or no longer used. There are some big online platforms which are all about giving. So I joined a community and gave away a lot of stuff and guess what, if felt devilishly good! I met a lot of people and most of them were very grateful, and I felt good about doing it. It´s a damn good feeling to give rather than to buy. Give it a try!

Stuff doesn´t bring you happiness

It´s always up to you as to how you feel. Nothing you buy will bring you freedom or happiness. (Well, not for long). You might think that a new car, a new laptop, a new house [put what you want in here!] will make you happy, but it won´t. It´s all up to you. I´m not suggesting that you cannot have nice things. Some things are good to have, but do you really need a new cellphone every year? Do you need the newest iPad in order to feel you fit in? It´s all just a big bubble and you are a part of it until you begin to see it for what it really is.

This seems like the perfect headline for my previous life. I have to thank the brilliant songwriter John Mayer for that. This song is on his latest album “Born and Raised” which I personally love. You may disagree with my taste in music but you know what they say…

Why did I always worry although life is just great? Why are you full of worries and fears?

Why can´t we just say – worry why should I care?

Well there´s a good answer to this question: We simply can!

We can turn our lives around; we can say go to hell, I don´t care about you anymore. I’ve read so many books about self improvement, how to be happy and personal freedom but Zen and the Art of Happiness really helped me. It´s simply written and easy to understand. It is just a blessing! It will help you understand how your brain and the whole universe works and it will then tell you how you can achieve a certain point of view where everything that´s happening in your life is just for your own good. Everything. Not only the so-called good events.

Everything that happens to you is always the best that can happen!

It´s just as simple as that. Give it a try and you will see how everything will change for the better. I read a chapter everyday as a means of reinforcement to help keep me focused on my goals. And everytime I listen to The Age of Worry, I feel free and full of joy.

If you have a song, a poem, a quote or whatever, which helps you feel more positive and energized, you are heartily invited to add to the comments below. Help others feel better about themselves because there´s no need to feel sad or depressed. It’s all a choice. It’s only a matter of your inner point of view! Let the bad thoughts disappear.

I think that for the longest time in my life I was in love with suffering but I didn´t realize it.

Sorrow and depression where constants in my life and I couldn´t even imagine that there actually were many happy people out in the world.

I just thought, “Well, that´s just the way it is and there’s no way to turn my life around.” But that was a terrible mistake. Strangely enough, it wasn´t entirely terrible because without my background, I would not have been motivated to do what I´m doing right now – writing about the unhappiness that pervaded my life, taking action to turn my life around, and trying to help others who may feel themselves mired in misery.

So I guess everything that happend has been good in the long run.

I encourage you to buy Zen and the Art of Happiness from Chris Prentiss as it has been very helpful to me and I consider it one of the most important purchases I’ve ever made. Give it a try and let me know what you think. Feel free to drop me a line to provide feedback about the book, or to provide other thoughts or ideas you care to share.

Well, if you read the about me page you already know that I hated my life and I recognized that I had to change something.

I had to change and I´m glad that I actually did!

I read Zen and the Art of Happiness from Chris Prentiss and although I’ve previously read similar books, Zen really did change me and my whole point of view. I read it and then I read it again and after that I read it again.

Even now, after I read it about 5 times or so, I like to sit down for a few minutes and read one or two chapters just to keep things in mind and reinforce those aspects I feel are paramount to my own personal improvement. I was a slave of my negative thoughts for over 30 years and I guess it takes time for my subconscious to soak up the positive ideas and concepts described in this great book.

It helped me a lot and I thank Chris Prentiss for this and all the other books he published. I would love to meet him some day as he has literally saved my life and for that I am very grateful! Thanks, Chris!

I recommend this book and hope you give it a try! I´m not trying to push random shit on my readers. I just want you to be as happy as I now am and let everyone know that this book has significantly contributed to my improved attitude and outlook on life!

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